1. |
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Where is the beginning of this story?
And who is the narrator if it’s not me?
And I’ve got an answer and I promise that this answer
will make you feel better: and then you can leave.
My problem is big enough to be yours.
Here’s a metaphor to end all metaphors:
so grand and spoken in a hushed and paced meter
it could almost be a lullaby.
Maybe it’s a lullaby.
Sleep well, little darling.
Maybe it’s a lullaby.
Sleep well.
Did anyone here buy a ticket
just to be unsettled, to be unmoored?
No, I’ve got an answer and I promise that this answer
will make you feel something: and then you can leave.
Later when the film of this is public,
this sixteen-by-nine format monologue,
then it will be real and maybe even lyrical -
almost like a lullaby.
Maybe it’s a lullaby.
Sleep well, dear viewer.
Maybe it’s a lullaby.
Sleep well.
What we wouldn’t do for a connection.
Who we wouldn’t pay for an answer.
Short and neat with a pretty resolution -
it could almost be a lullaby.
(Not quite real and not quite relevant
sort of like a lullaby.)
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2. |
Bad Marxist
01:55
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Part 1
He went to private school on scholarship to learn how to be a pretty bad Marxist and later he could lay on a private beach with the best of them holding a rum drink that was poured and garnished by the charming natives
And he was still in his element,
he was always in his element:
what particular element wasn’t his?
It took labor to get there and yet it was still hard to know how to exist.
But it’s good paying work to be a pretty bad Marxist.
Part 2
He took a certain small amount of pleasure in running an efficient meeting and he received promotions based on this ability and he was often praised for his efficiency and this praise and promotion led him to believe that he was doing something worthwhile.
What else is there but the praise of your peers
and what else are wasted minutes if not a capitalist’s holy tears
and what else is there to do but make ‘em smile, make ‘em smile?
And what else is there to do but make a list to do and then cross the things to do off the list.
And what else is there to be but a pretty bad Marxist.
It’s good work if you can get it.
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3. |
Mayakovsky's Accountant
02:23
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In the galleries everything has an opening bid.
And the capitalists may have questionable tastes
but they say at least they aren’t afraid to pay for it.
Civilization began with a number
and when it comes to an end it’ll finish with a number
and no matter how much of what you love you can fit on the head of a pin it’ll add up to a number.
And that’s how much it costs you.
The problem with a rhyme is you can’t be sure
just what you’ll say in order to make one.
(But an equation leaves you with a number;
at least you know what’s left when you’re done.)
And I could live like an open-ended question
and I can sleep like a comatose satellite
and I can lose again everything I ever lost
see, I remember that
And that’s what it cost me.
Civilization began with a number
and the great unwashed add up to a number
- if you count up every word ever wasted on a gallery wall you’ll arrive at a number
(And someone’s going to pay for it.)
(And that’s how much it costs you.)
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4. |
Chekhov, Again
00:12
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Trebalo bi da iza vrata svakog zadovoljnog, srećnog čoveka stoji neko s malenim čekićem.
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5. |
Adding Machine
01:21
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(x) How much do
things matter
when you weigh ‘em,
when you measure?
Weigh the purpose,
click purchase:
I’m a good boy,
I’m an adding machine.
(y) I’m a ruler,
I’m a yardstick,
What’s it resale?
How heavy, how thick?
Who wants it
and can’t have it?
I’m a warehouse,
I’m an adding machine.
(x) Is it scare enough
to have a value?
Every word is
intangible (but)
exchangeable,
a careful barter:
I am retail,
I’m an adding machine.
(y) How much more
could you sell it for?
Is it worth it?
Do you need insurance?
Shop around and
take another look:
I’m a teaspoon,
I’m an adding machine.
(x) Who’s selling?
Almost everyone.
Who’s buying?
That’s all we ever done.
Keep a tally,
Keep an inventory:
I’m a keeper
and I’m an adding machine.
(y) I’m a good boy,
I’m a yardstick,
I’m a warehouse,
I’m an adding machine.
I’m a good boy,
I’m a yardstick,
I’m a warehouse,
Adding machine.
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6. |
Uniform
02:00
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The buttons and the laces mean as much as the color of the fabric and the stitching.
The uniform: the language - language worn and threadbare.
And we have history to thank, so thank you, and history’s another country
populated by some careless people who spent most of their time wondering what to wear.
If you paint your lips black does it tell me what you’re thinking? Does it offer me an angle?
Does it offer any purchase on the flat and slick surface of your half-hearted opinion?
The “t” in t-shirt standing for “tell me”: tell me that you’re funny,
tell me that you’re trouble, tell me what you watch on television.
Black leather boots and torn blue jeans did not turn us into an army.
It was not a common cause: it was just a uniform.
It was just a uniform, it was everyone for themselves, it was just a uniform.
Were you born in a country where they say that there are many things worth fighting for
but rarely do they do that even though they put on a uniform like it’s their idea of having fun?
Let’s sew a white flag out of old t-shirts and fly it from a broomstick ‘cuz I’ve never been a soldier
and despite how good I might look in a uniform I never want to be one.
It’s hard to tell the difference - fashionable or foolish - in the public square
and why should anybody care if it is just a uniform.
Who could trust a uniform, if it’s everyone for themselves, if it’s just a uniform?
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7. |
When You're Right
02:03
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8. |
Elemental
02:35
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If you live or you die
If you write your memoir
If you print too many copies
If they store them in a warehouse
If it catches on fire
If it catches on fire
If it burns to the ground…
If it burns to the ground
If they come to put it out
with their hoses and ladders
If thousands of gallons
of water are spilled
to put out the blaze
If that seems so elemental…
If that seems so elemental
then I guess that you were elemental
If it seems so elemental
then I guess that you were elemental
If it seems so elemental
then I guess that you were elemental.
What’s the difference
What’s the difference
After all of that it seems like
you were the difference
What’s the difference
What’s the difference
After all of that…
And if that seems so elemental
then I guess that you were elemental
If it seems so elemental
then I guess that you were elemental
If it seems so elemental
then I guess that you were that.
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Disko Komitet Houston, Texas
from Belgrade, Serbia and Houston, TX
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